Evolution fiasco: Satyapal Singh says debate needed & top 5 developments

On Monday, he defended his comment that Darwin's theory of evolution was incorrect and called for a debate on the issue

Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh is not sold on Darwin's theory of evolution, and while, thankfully, he has not proposed an alternative, unlike the proponents of 'Intelligent Design', he is sticking to his guns. 

The crux of Singh's argument is that no one ever saw an "ape turning into a man", and he decided to put it forth, along with his foot in his mouth, on Friday when he told assembled reporters that the theory of evolution was "scientifically wrong" and that it needed to be struck off from the text books. 

Now, Singh is determined to ensure that the foot remains firmly jammed where it is. On Monday, he defended his comments and called for a "debate" on the issue.

On Friday, on the sidelines of the All India Vaidik Sammelan in Aurangabad, Singh claimed that Darwin's theory of evolution was not scientifically correct and needed to be removed from text books in schools and colleges. Stating that our ancestors never mentioned that they saw an ape turning into a man, Singh appeared to call for a change in curriculum.  

"Since man is seen on Earth he has always been a man," he said, adding, "Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, have said they saw an ape turning into a man... No books we have read or the tales told to us by our grandparents had such a mention." 

Here are the top 5 developments over the issue:

1) 'Unnecessary' controversy: Satyapal Singh isn't backing down, and on Monday he defended his earlier comment and called the controversy around his statement as "unnecessary".

"It is not a matter of controversy...," said the minister. 

2) International debate required: Further, Singh said that an international debate was required to ascertain whether Darwin and the theory of evolution were correct. 
 

"... It should be debated even at international level. Let there be an international conference and a debate on the issue," Singh told assembled journalists, this time at IIT-Guwahati on the sidelines of an official function.

He even offered to arrange an international conference to hold a debate on the theory.

"The evolutionists and Darwinists and others should come forward and have a debate to prove what is factually correct," Singh said. Further, he appeared to be particularly concerned that "only facts" be taught to students.  

3) 'Even Einstein didn't believe Darwin': Singh has big guns to back up his statement, or so he claims. In an attempt to back up what he said, the minister stated that eminent scientists had also not accepted Darwin's theory of evolution. 

"Scientists like Einstein and many other scientists of repute have refused to accept Darwin's theory of evolution," Singh said, adding that evidence against the theory "has surfaced". According to Singh, "hardly anybody" supports the theory. 

4) 'Illogical', say scientists: Scientists of note across India dismissed Singh's views on evolution, calling them "illogical" and "untenable". They came out strongly in support of the Darwinian model of evolution.

Raghavendra Gadagkar, a professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) in Bengaluru, told news agencies that he wasn't keen on refuting Singh's claims on a factual basis as that was unlikely to cut any ice with the minister. The reason for Gadagkar's reluctance? He believes Singh's statement might have been politically motivated.

"I do not know how useful it is to refute the minister's statement, on the basis of facts. It seems to be aimed at politically polarising science and scientists, and that is the real danger we must guard against," Gadagkar, the former president of Indian National Science Academy, said, adding, "On the basis of facts, the statement is untenable at many levels. At the most elementary level, all evidence indicate that humans diverged from our closest living relative (the chimpanzee) about 5 million years ago. Therefore, our ancestors did not have the privilege of witnessing the event and recording it in their scriptures." 

Amitabh Joshi, an evolutionary biologist at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bengaluru, told news agencies that the minister's statement showed a "cavalier disregard" for established scientific norms. He added that Singh's remark was "illogical".

"It is very sad that when people who are in power to take decisions affecting syllabus, etc, show this level of cavalier disregard for what is the standing consensus in the scientific community... One should be a little careful before making such statements," Joshi added.

"If he acts upon his idea to start altering the syllabus.. then it's very unfortunate," he cautioned. 

5) Scientists write a letter to Singh: Deciding to reason with the minister, Indian scientists, both in the country and abroad, wrote a letter titled "In support of evolution" addressing Singh. In the letter, they said that they were "pained" by his statement and described it as an "insult to genuine research work".

"We, the scientists, science communicators and scientifically oriented members of public, are deeply pained by your claim. It is factually incorrect to state that the evolutionary principle has been rejected by the scientific community. On the contrary, every new discovery adds support to Darwin's insights," the letter said, refuting the minister's notion that the theory of evolution stands discredited. 

The letter didn't mince any words and the scientists who wrote it were not amused by the minister's supposed claim that the Vedas contain answers to all questions. "Such an exaggerated claim cannot be substantiated with the evidence available and is an insult to the genuine research work or history of Indian scientific traditions," the letter said. 

However, it wasn't just the inaccuracy of Singh's remarks that the authors of the letter had an issue with, they were also worried over the impact of said remarks."When a minister working for Human Resource Development in the country makes such claims, it harms the scientific community's efforts to propagate scientific thoughts and rationality through critical education and modern scientific research," the letter said.

The online letter was signed by over 3,000 people.